Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Nuicleigh) Act, 1971

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Number 12 of 1971

NUCLEAR ENERGY (AN BORD FUINNIMH NUICLEIGH) ACT, 1971

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Number 12 of 1971

NUCLEAR ENERGY (AN BORD FUINNIMH NUICLEIGH) ACT, 1971

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BOARD TO BE CALLED AN BORD FUINNIMH NUICLEIGH, TO DEFINE ITS FUNCTIONS AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [5th July, 1971.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act—

“the Board” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3;

“fissile fuel” means a material capable of acting as a source of energy because of its ability to propagate a neutron chain reaction;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Transport and Power;

“nuclear reactor” means a structure containing nuclear fuel and in which a self-sustaining and controlled process of nuclear fission can occur;

“radioactive substance” means a substance which consists of or contains any radioactive chemical element, whether natural or artificial;

“substance” means a natural or artificial substance, whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or vapour, and includes a preparation or manufactured article or article which has been subjected to any artificial treatment or process.

(2) In this Act, a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

Commencement.

2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as, by order or orders made by the Minister under this section, may be fixed therefor either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions.

Establishment of Board.

3.—(1) There shall, by virtue of this section, be established a board to be known as An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh (in this Act referred to as the Board) to perform the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal (which shall be judicially noticed) and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land.

General functions of Board.

4.—(1) The Board shall, in addition to any other functions assigned to it by or under this Act have the following general functions—

(a) to advise the Government, the Minister and any other Minister of State on nuclear energy and matters connected therewith,

(b) to keep itself informed of developments in nuclear energy and matters connected therewith, with particular reference to the implications for the State of such developments.

(2) The Board may, subject to compliance with such conditions as the Minister may prescribe, do all such other things as arise out of or are consequential on the functions assigned to the Board by or under this Act.

Particular functions of Board.

5.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 4 of this Act, the Board shall have the following particular functions—

(a) to advise the Government or, with the consent of the Minister, any other person or group of persons engaged in training or research in nuclear science on the acquisition of nuclear reactors or radioactive devices for training or research purposes and, in the event of the acquisition of such reactors or devices, on all aspects of their location, installation, operation and supervision,

(b) to advise the Minister on proposals for the construction of nuclear power stations and on all aspects of the installation, operation and supervision of such stations,

(c) to prepare draft safety codes and regulations dealing with fissile fuel or other radioactive substances or devices and irradiating apparatus, taking into account relevant standards recommended by international bodies dealing with nuclear energy,

(d) to promote knowledge, proficiency and research in nuclear science and technology and to act as an agency for the collection and dissemination of information on matters relating to nuclear science,

(e) to advise the Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding representation of the State on international bodies dealing with nuclear energy and to maintain such direct relations with such bodies as may be agreed to by those Ministers.

(2) The Minister may from time to time by order assign to the Board the following functions—

(a) the making of arrangements for the supply of fissile fuel or such other radioactive substances or devices as may be specified in the order for use in the State and, where so agreed by the Minister after agreement with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the conclusion of agreements with the appropriate bodies for this purpose,

(b) the making of arrangements to ensure the safe custody of fissile fuel and the disposal of such radioactive waste products as may be specified in the order,

(c) the making of arrangements to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power reactors in so far as the safety of the public (whether in the State or elsewhere) is likely to be affected by such operation,

(d) the making of arrangements to ensure the safe operation of nuclear training reactors or radioactive devices,

(e) the making of arrangements to ensure compliance with any safety codes established or regulations made (whether under this Act, the Health Act, 1953 , or the Factories Act, 1955 ) relating to fissile fuel, radioactive substances or devices or irradiating apparatus,

(f) in the performance of any function mentioned in this subsection, the control of the custody, use, manufacture, importation, distribution, transportation, insurance, sale, offering or keeping for sale, exportation or other disposal of fissile fuel or such other radioactive substances or devices as may be specified in the order.

(3) Where in an order under this section the Minister prescribes conditions, the Board shall comply with such conditions.

(4) Before making an order under this section, the Minister shall consult the Ministers for Finance, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Labour, Foreign Affairs, Education and Health.

(5) The Minister may, after consultation with the Ministers for Finance, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Labour, Foreign Affairs, Education and Health, by order revoke or amend an order under this section.

Control of fissile fuel or other radioactive substances or devices and irradiating apparatus.

6.—(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the Ministers for Finance, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Labour, Health, Education and Foreign Affairs, by order regulate, restrict or prohibit (save under licence issued by him or by the Board as his agent) the custody, use, manufacture, importation, distribution, transportation, exportation or other disposal of fissile fuel, or of such other radioactive substances or devices, or irradiating apparatus, including radioactive waste products, as may be specified in the order, and any such order shall have regard to varying levels of radioactivity and to the extent to which such substance, device or apparatus is, in his opinion, a danger to the life or health of a person coming into contact therewith.

(2) An order under this section may contain provisions empowering an officer or servant of the Minister authorised in writing by the Minister or an officer or servant of the Board authorised in writing by the Board to enter upon premises and to carry out such inspection as may be reasonably necessary to ascertain if an order under this section is being complied with, and any person who refuses to permit such entry or inspection or who obstructs such inspection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(3) A licence issued under this section may be subject to such conditions as the Minister (or, in the case of a licence issued by the Board, the Board) may attach to it, including a condition that the licence may be revoked if the Minister (or the Board) is of the opinion that any such condition has not been observed.

(4) Any person who contravenes a provision of an order under this section shall be guilty of an offence and be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both,

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both, and

(c) in every case on conviction for the offence, to the forfeiture of the substance in respect of which the offence was committed.

(5) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section.

Members of Board.

7.—(1) The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance and shall be not more than seven.

(2) The period of office of a member of the Board shall be such period, not exceeding five years, as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine when appointing him.

(3) A member of the Board whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

(4) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, remove a member of the Board from office at any time.

(5) A member of the Board may at any time resign his office as member by letter sent to the Minister.

(6) Where a member of the Board is nominated either as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas or as a member of Seanad Éireann, he shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board.

(7) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein shall, while so entitled, be disqualified from becoming a member of the Board.

Remuneration and terms of office of members of Board.

8.—(1) A member of the Board shall be paid, out of funds at the disposal of the Board, such remuneration (if any) and such amounts in respect of expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may (in the case of remuneration) fix from time to time or (in the case of expenses) considers reasonable.

(2) Subject to subsection (1), a member of the Board shall hold office on such terms as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine from time to time.

Chairman of Board.

9.—(1) The Minister shall, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, from time to time as occasion requires appoint a member of the Board to be chairman thereof.

(2) The chairman of the Board shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns the office of chairman or ceases to be chairman under subsection (4), hold office until the expiration of his period of office as a member of the Board.

(3) The chairman of the Board may at any time resign his office as chairman by letter sent to the Minister, and the resignation shall, unless it is previously withdrawn in writing, take effect at the commencement of the meeting of the Board held next after the Board has been informed by the Minister of the resignation.

(4) Where the chairman of the Board ceases during his term of office as chairman to be a member of the Board, he shall also then cease to be chairman of the Board.

Disclosure by member of Board of interest in proposed contract.

10.—(1) A member of the Board who is either directly or indirectly interested in any company or concern with which the Board proposes to make any contract, or in any contract which the Board proposes to make—

(a) shall disclose to the Board the fact and the nature of such interest at the meeting of the Board at which the question of entering into such contract is first considered or, if he has no such interest at that time, as soon as may be after he has acquired such interest,

(b) shall take no part in any deliberations of the Board relating to such contract save to such extent as the chairman of the Board may permit,

(c) shall not vote on a decision relating to such contract, and

(d) shall not be counted in the quorum present at the meeting dealing with such contract.

(2) A disclosure under this section shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board.

Meetings and procedure of Board.

11.— (1) The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the due fulfilment of its functions.

(2) The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Board.

(3) At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairman of the Board shall, if present, be chairman of the meeting,

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the Board is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

(4) Every question at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(5) The Board may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.

(6) Subject to this Act, the Board shall regulate its procedure by rules.

(7) The quorum of the Board shall be three.

Officers and servants of Board.

12.—(1) The Board shall appoint such and so many persons to be officers and servants of the Board as it from time to time thinks proper.

(2) An officer or servant of the Board shall hold his office or employment on such terms and conditions as the Board from time to time determines.

(3) There shall be paid by the Board to its officers and servants such remuneration and allowances for expenses as the Board, subject to the approval of the Minister and with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may from time to time determine.

(4) The Board may at any time for stated reasons remove any officer or servant of the Board from being its officer or servant.

Performance of functions by officers or servants of Board.

13.—The Board may perform any of its functions through or by any of its officers or servants duly authorised by the Board in that behalf.

Superannuation of officers and servants of Board.

14.—(1) The Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister a contributory scheme or schemes for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement to or in respect of such officers or servants of the Board as it may think fit.

(2) Every such scheme shall fix the time and conditions of retirement for all persons to or in respect of whom pensions, gratuities or allowances on retirement are payable under the scheme, and different times and conditions may be fixed in respect of different classes of persons.

(3) The Board may at any time prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme amending a scheme previously submitted and approved of under this section.

(4) A scheme submitted to the Minister under this section shall, if approved of by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be carried out by the Board in accordance with its terms.

(5) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any pension, gratuity or allowance payable in pursuance of a scheme under this section, such dispute shall be submitted to the Minister who shall refer it to the Minister for Finance, whose decision shall be final.

(6) Every scheme submitted and approved of under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is approved of and if either House, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, passes a resolution annulling the scheme, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Secondment of employee of Board becoming member of Oireachtas.

15.—(1) Where a person who is either an officer or a servant in the employment of the Board becomes a member of either House of the Oireachtas—

(a) he shall, during the period commencing upon his becoming entitled under the Standing Orders of that House to sit therein and ending when he ceases to be a member of that House, or, if it should sooner happen, upon his resignation or retirement from such employment or upon the termination of such employment by the Board, stand seconded from such employment;

(b) he shall not be paid by, or entitled to receive from, the Board any salary or wages, as the case may be, in respect of that period.

(2) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein shall, while so entitled, be disqualified from becoming an officer or servant of the Board.

Committees of the Board.

16.—(1) The Board may from time to time appoint such and so many committees as it thinks proper.

(2) The Board may delegate to a committee appointed under this section any of its functions which, in its opinion, can be better or more conveniently performed by a committee, and may regulate the procedure of any such committee.

(3) A committee appointed under this section shall consist of such number of members as the Board thinks proper and may, at the discretion of the Board, consist exclusively of persons who are members of the Board or partly of persons who are members of the Board and partly of persons who are officers of the Board, or partly of persons who are either members or officers of the Board and partly of other persons.

(4) The acts of a committee appointed under this section shall be subject to confirmation by the Board.

(5) Section 10 shall apply to a meeting of a committee appointed under this section as if it were a meeting of the Board.

Power to charge fees.

17.—The Board shall have power to charge, receive and recover fees for any services rendered by the Board on behalf of any person other than the Government, the Minister or any other Minister.

Power to accept subscriptions and donations.

18.—(1) The Board may accept subscriptions of money from industrial firms or other bodies in return for the use by such firms or other bodies of such services and facilities of the Board as the Board may determine.

(2) The Board may accept a gift of money, land or other property, upon such trusts and conditions, if any, as may be specified by the person making the gift.

(3) The Board shall not accept any gift if the conditions attached by the donor to the acceptance thereof are inconsistent with the functions of the Board.

Annual grant to Board.

19.—The Minister may, in each financial year, pay to the Board with the consent of the Minister for Finance out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such sum, by way of grant towards the Board's expenses, as the Minister with such consent may determine.

Accounts and audits.

20.—(1) The Board shall keep in such form as shall be approved by the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, all proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by it and, in particular, shall keep in such form as aforesaid all such special accounts as the Minister on his own motion, or at the request of the Minister for Finance, shall from time to time direct.

(2) Accounts kept in pursuance of this section shall be submitted annually by the Board to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit at such times as the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, directs and the said accounts, when so audited, shall, together with the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon, be presented to the Minister who shall cause copies thereof to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

Annual report and information to the Minister.

21.—(1) The Board shall, in each year, at such date as the Minister may direct, make a report to the Minister of its proceedings under this Act during the preceding financial year, and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(2) Whenever the Minister so directs, the annual report shall also include information on such particular aspects of the Board's proceedings under this Act as the Minister may specify.

(3) The Board shall submit to the Minister such information regarding the performance of its functions or regarding its income or expenditure as he may from time to time require.

Laying of orders before Oireachtas.

22.—Every order made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Prosecution of offences.

23.—An offence under section 6 of this Act may be prosecuted by the Board.

Amendment of Health Act, 1953.

24.—The Health Act, 1953 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion after “may” in section 59 (4) of “, after consultation with An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh,”,

(b) by the insertion before “radio-active” and “irradiating apparatus” in section 59 (4) (a) of “medical”,

(c) by the deletion of section 59 (4) (b), and

(d) by the insertion after section 59 (5) (a) (v) of the following—

“(vi) by officers or servants of An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh,”.

Amendment of Factories Act, 1955.

25.—The Factories Act, 1955 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution in the definition of “inspector” in section 2 (1) of “a person” for “an officer of the Minister”,

(b) by the insertion in section 71 (1) after “Minister for Health” of “(or, where a process of manufacture involves the use of radioactive substances within the meaning of the Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh) Act, 1971, or of radioactive devices or irradiating apparatus, after consultation with An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh)”, and

(c) by the insertion in section 93 (1) after “his officers” of “or, where appropriate, officers of An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh”.

Expenses.

26.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Short title.

27.—This Act shall be cited as the Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh) Act, 1971.